Oaklawn notes: Notable rule proposals in Arkansas

The Arkansas Racing Commission will meet Wednesday morning to consider adoption of a handful of notable proposed rules or amendments that could go into effect during the Oaklawn Park meet that opens in January. Before action is taken, the commission will hear public comment during the meeting Wednesday.
The first proposed rule would provide for prerace examinations the morning a horse is to race. The exam would be conducted by a commission veterinarian. (Post-time exams by a state veterinarian are standard procedure before each race at Oaklawn.)

Also on the agenda are amendments that pertain to claiming procedures. One would reduce the deadline for depositing a claim in the claiming box from 15 to 10 minutes before post. The other would give a person who claimed a horse that was either “fatally injured during the race or is otherwise removed from the track in an ambulance” an hour to void the claim.
Another amendment proposal would pave the way for a trainer’s commission to be automatically paid through the horsemen’s bookkeeper. It calls for setting a trainer’s commission “at 10 percent of purse money earned in a race for horses finishing first, second, or third, unless the trainer and owner have a written contract that establishes a different amount.”

The commission meeting was scheduled for 11 a.m. Central in Little Rock, Ark.

Oaklawn hires new track super

Kevin Seymore has been hired as the new track superintendent at Oaklawn, and his first day on the job was Monday, according to Jennifer Hoyt, media relations manager at Oaklawn. Seymore replaces Jamie Richardson, who is now the assistant track superintendent at Churchill Downs.
Seymore is a former trainer and former track superintendent at Fairmont Park in Collinsville, Ill. Oaklawn will begin accepting horses on its backstretch Nov. 12, with the first day of training set for Nov. 19. Stall applications for the meet close Thursday. The first day of racing is Jan. 11.